“However, within several years Garner had begun to find fault with his debut; in a 1968 interview he referred to it as “a fairly bad book” whilst in 1970 he derided it as “one of the worst books published in the last twenty years… technically… inept”.”

I can see why Garner would grow to dislike it. The summary above sounds much like Susan Cooper’s books, not because they are derivative so much as they share similar source material. Now, again, that’s not to fault either book. My point is that as the 60s and 70s wore on, the novelty of adapting the myths from the British Isles wore off. It sounds like Garner wanted to judge his own writing on its merits and faults in toto. And if you’re disappointed by your own characterization, or your writing style in your 23rd year (heaven knows, I am!), while your innovations to setting haven’t aged well, then I think you have a legitimate complaint.

Also, I finally twigged to what the cover reminds me of: the film version of Cooper’s book! Look at Eccleston’s outfit and tell me it doesn’t remind you of Darth Moper. Read how useless the B cast are, and tell me they don’t look as ineffectual as that lot in the back.

@Dead Stuff. Yes, but, you see, I’ve actually read the book, so this is my own personal view which I believe is also legitimate. Not that the thing doesn’t indeed have significant flaws – it’s a first novel, after all – but his condemnation seems extremely over-the-top to me. But then authors *are* often like that about their early work.

EDIT: By personal view, I mean, the view that this is actually a good book, not that it was the Vader-on-Ice cover which did the damage. Though really, who knows?

Never fully believe or see as definitive an author’s judgment of his or her own work: 1. they often lie; 2. they often don’t fully grasp what they’ve written; 3. (following from 2) they have their own view of their work which perhaps shouldn’t be privileged above the reader’s.

Anthony Burgess went to his grave protesting loudly that A Clockwork Orange was a terrible book and that he’d written at least a dozen that were much better, but he was wrong. It’s clearly, as posterity has made clear, out of his forty or so works, his one and only masterpiece.

I see the Disneyfication of Star Wars continues as they remake “Beauty and the Beast” with Vader recast as The Beast. (I can hear the dialogue now: “You’re supposed to be feeding the birds, not Force Choking them!”)

$DEITY, that font . . . Ace had a real thing for it, back then. Or at least, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a copy of Norton’s Breed to Come with the exact same font on the cover, right down to the drop shadow.